DM Fail: Accidents Happen

Yesterday ESPN Sportswriter Bill Simmons made a mistake, but let's be honest we've all been there. Updating his status from his mobile phone Bill accidentally tweeted his message - "Randy Moss Vikings" - instead of direct messaging it on Twitter. He was merely trying to figure out if this trade was a rumor or not, but within minutes Twitter was a Twittering and it was over. Did I mention he has 1.2 million followers?
What was unusual was a few hours later ESPN had a news ticker scroll saying Fox Sports had reported the Randy Moss potential trade. It was almost as if they were washing their hands of the matter.

No matter who is right or wrong, accidents happen in the online world whether it is "replying all" to a good old-fashioned email, letting a Direct Message turn into a Top Trending Topic or posting something as a Wall Post instead of an Inbox Message.
Remember social is meant to be social which means messages are easily spread and amplified among a group of people. I once received some wise advice that has caused me to delete a message of two - if you wouldn't want it printed on the front page of the New York Times don't put it in writing. Guess I will have to pick up the phone every now and then after all.